Milos Raonic advances to second round at Toronto Masters with 37 aces over Tiafoe

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Canadian tennis player Milos Raonic turned back the clock and advanced to the second round of the Toronto Masters, a 1000-point ATP Masters event, after defeating the ninth-seeded American Frances Tiafoe in a hard-fought match on Monday with a score of 6-7 (12-14), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3. The encounter saw an astounding 37 aces served.

In what could potentially be his final appearance on his home turf and in front of his home crowd, the former world number three displayed remarkable form and sealed the victory in 2 hours and 45 minutes. This victory allowed Raonic to eliminate the highest-ranked player in the first round, a privilege granted to the top eight seeds, including top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and second seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, the 2021 champion.

After losing the first set in an intense tiebreak that stretched to 26 points, the 32-year-old Canadian rallied in the second set, also winning it in a tiebreak. He then started the third set strongly, taking a 3-0 lead and ultimately clinching the victory.

Reflecting on his performance, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up commented after his first home match since 2019, "It's been a full four years since I played in front of my parents, who were present for most of my matches in the juniors and for most of my professional matches. All of these things came together for me to experience this wonderful night, and I'm grateful for that."

Raonic, who became the first Canadian to enter the top ten in the ATP rankings and served as an inspiration for players like Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, played his first match on hard court in over two years. Despite this hiatus, he demonstrated no signs of being affected and particularly excelled in his powerful serves, hitting a total of 37 aces. Notably, this falls just short of his personal record of 38 aces achieved against Radik Stepanek at the 2011 Memphis Open.

After a two-year absence from the courts due to various injuries, including an Achilles tendon issue, Raonic made his comeback at the Sertogenbosch tournament in the Netherlands and Wimbledon, winning a match in each of these events.

In other standout matches on the opening day, twelfth-seeded American Tommy Paul defeated Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, fifth-seeded Polish player Hubert Hurkacz, the runner-up from last year's edition against Pablo Carreño Busta, defeated Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), and sixteenth-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti defeated Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-1.